Even though Kevin now lives in one of the largest urban centres in Canada, he and wife Christie have chosen their location carefully. Snuggled in at the foot of Mount Seymour in a hamlet called Deep Cove, they enjoy all things nature-related, which makes this an ideal spot. They have world class biking trails at their back door, with lush green, extensive hiking trails open year round, and the ocean a stone’s throw away. Sound ideal? Kevin thinks so.
Kevin Calhoun and wife
Christie in BC. Photo: Supplied.
You might say that bikes play a dominant role in Kevin’s life these days. He works as a Sales rep covering lower mainland B.C. for Lambert, Canada’s leader in distribution of internationally renowned products for all things bike. According to their website, all of their employees have “sports in their blood”. Kevin qualifies. He is a committed bike racer, competing at the national level as a professional, and for the past 17 years he has been a member of the Rocky Mountain Bicycles Team, but he prefers racing in the Pacific Northwest because of the quality of opportunities there.
There’s more to Kevin than sports. Married for 11 years to Christie, a nurse, he has been influenced by her desire to make the world a better place. To that end she has made several trips providing volunteer medical services in third world countries. She has recently returned from in Haiti where she spent 3 weeks working at a hospital. These trips have left deep impressions on them both, as they understand how difficult life can be in other countries. With a better appreciation of life in Canada, they are motivated to make a difference here at home.
Another cause they support together is providing foster care for dogs which are destined for euthanasia or which have been abandoned. By providing a rescue home, they house and train the dogs until permanent homes are found. For Kevin and Christie, the hardest part is often seeing the animals leave after they have come full circle.
Kevin remembers life in our small town fondly, and reminds us to be proud of our roots and the small town values our community has instilled in us, which he believes make us confident, strong, determined people. He appreciates the benefits of small town life; the closeness you feel with your neighbors and people you see in town, and he misses that community feel.
Even so, you can sense the satisfaction and calm Kevin feels in his new life out west, and no wonder- when we reached him, he was spending a few days in Maui, Hawaii riding his bike! The key to that contentment is that Kevin and his wife Christie have found ways to live their lives in ways that follow their philosophy of paying it forward. They have demonstrated a strong commitment to improving the environment through small, everyday decisions, and demonstrate compassion through their rescue dog efforts and through Christie’s international volunteer work. They provide great role models and we are as proud in Millbrook of Kevin as he seems to be of us.
By: Karen Graham
